Huge deer had only been seen on nighttime trail-cam photos before stepping out.
In some ways, 9-year-old Brier Williamson is a typical third grader. He enjoys school, but looks forward to those weekends when his dad drives him down from their Rayville home to Ridgecrest to hunt with his grandfather Jerry Poole.
In other ways, Brier is anything but typical. Not many 9-year-old boys got initiated into deer hunting clad in a diaper and sitting in dad’s lap.
Additionally, not many boys that age have a dozen deer to their credit, topped off by a gigantic 9-point that bit the dust on Jan. 14, a buck that scored 164 inches Boone & Crockett for Simmons Sporting Goods Big Buck Contest, putting Brier atop the leader board in the youth category.
“My father-in-law and a few other friends have a small 300-or-so-acre lease down there in Concordia Parish, and Brier gets excited when his granddad invites him down to hunt,” said father Mike Williamson, who is a State Trooper.
“His granddad called and I drove Brier down to Ridgecrest on Friday morning (Jan. 13) so he could hunt that weekend,” Williamson said. “I had to work so I couldn’t take him, but he really enjoys getting to hunt with his granddad.”
The youngster and granddad ate lunch at the club while one of the other club members joshed with young Brier, telling him he could shoot any deer he saw except the big 9-point that had become the talk of the club this season.
The impressive buck had shown up several times on trail cameras this season, but each photo revealed the buck was only active at night; no photos and no sighting of the deer had been made during daylight hours.
“Brier and his granddad got into the stand Saturday afternoon (Jan. 14); my son was using his granddad’s little H&R single-shot .270, and it was getting late in the day when some does stepped out followed by a decent 8-point with about a 15-inch inside spread,” Mike Williamson said. “Brier was getting ready to drop the hammer on him when his granddad told him to hold up.
“Another deer was walking out at about 140 yards.”
The “other deer” was a big buck, and granddad changed his tune.
“Whoa! Wait; don’t shoot the little one — shoot the big one,” he whispered to Brier.
The youngster complied, putting the crosshairs on the buck’s shoulder and squeezing off a shot. The buck dropped in its tracks.
The buck, estimated to weigh between 240 to 250 pounds, was indeed impressive. Sporting a 21-inch inside spread and 9 points , the rack was massive: 5-inch bases and main beams taping 24 inches long.
“That boy was so proud and couldn’t wait to tell me,” Mike Williamson said. “I told him he’s going to have to take up bass fishing or something because he’s already set the standard so high as a deer hunter he’s not going to have anything else to look forward to in the deer woods.”
See nearly 400 bucks killed this season – and add photos of your own – in the Nikon Big Buck Photo Contest, which is free to all users of this site.
Everyone who enters will be eligible to win a set of Nikon Monarch ATB 10×42 binoculars, which will be given away in a random drawing after the season ends.
Not a member of the Sportsman team yet? It’s free! So register today to get started!
